In the summer of 2012, the terre battue of Court Philippe Chatrier witnessed a spectacular implosion. Serena Williams was bundled out of the first round of Roland Garros by Virginie Razzano, a player who at the time was ranked 106 spots below her. Never before in her Grand Slam history had the American faced such an early exit.
It was a culmination of a stretch of lows that began in 2010 with a freak foot accident and continued as a two-year dry spell with no Major titles. Such was the level of her dispiritedness that she would choose a coach — Patrick Mouratoglou — from outside her family for the first time.
Ten years later, Serena, at 40 and well past her tennis prime, finds herself in a similar yet different situation. It has been four years since she returned to competition after the birth of her daughter, four years in pursuit of an elusive 24th Grand Slam title that will tie her with Margaret Court in the record books. She also finds herself without a coach now after Mouratoglou, with whom she won 10 Majors, moved on to train Romanian Simona Halep.
